Banking: Bank of Scotland (Ireland)

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will request the Financial Services Authority or any other agency to investigate the loan book of the Bank of Scotland (Ireland) in the United Kingdom.

Lord Myners: As a matter of policy, the Treasury does not comment on matters of regulation relating to individual institutions. These are matters for the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Banking: Bonuses

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer by Lord Myners on 10 February (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 1009—11), whether they have identified any instances where legal and contractual obligations to pay bonuses can be challenged; and, if so, in how many cases.

Lord Myners: UKFI will continue closely to scrutinise the remuneration proposals of banks participating in the government recapitalisation scheme. As announced in its press release on 17 February, RBS has agreed to minimise the bonuses paid in 2009 for performance in 2008 while having regard to its legal obligations. Lloyds Banking Group has also committed to a restructuring based on the same principles as the RBS settlement.
	UKFI has agreed with the banks in which the Government have investments that they will assure themselves that all payouts to former directors were no more than legally necessary.

Banking: Bonuses

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer by Lord Myners on 10 February (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 1009—11), whether he has instructed the direction of UK Financial Interests Limited to take account of the views he expressed regarding bonuses being fully justified by the contribution of the individual.

Lord Myners: UK Financial Investments (UKFI) has been set up to manage the Treasury's shareholdings in recapitalised banks. UKFI has a role in scrutinising the non-lending recapitalisation conditions, including on remuneration policy, to protect the interest of the taxpayer as a shareholder.
	UKFI has been liaising with the board of the banks of which they are major shareholders on remuneration policy, including work to ensure that remuneration policies are in line with the Government's principles on remuneration, including no rewards for failure.

Banking: Northern Rock

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what directions they gave to the management of Northern Rock concerning the payment of staff bonuses.

Lord Myners: The Treasury and UKFI have been liaising with the board of the banks of which they are major shareholders on remuneration policy. This includes work to ensure that remuneration policies are in line with the Government's principles on pay, including no rewards for failure.
	Under the Northern Rock shareholder relationship framework document the Government require that executive incentivisation be linked to delivery of the objectives set out in the business plan. Government approval is required for remuneration packages and incentivisation arrangements for directors of Northern Rock. Junior staff pay and incentive arrangements are a matter for the company.

Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will review the effectiveness of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 in light of developments in mobile home design and construction since 1960.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government why local authorities cannot levy a fee to recover their costs in administering licence applications, variations and site monitoring under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960; and what action they will take to give financial help to councils in popular holiday areas, such as Conwy County Borough Council, in discharging their obligations under the Act.

Baroness Andrews: The Government intend to consult on proposals to reform the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 to address issues concerning management and other standards in residential mobile home and other caravan sites through site licensing. It is proposed to consult on whether local authorities should be able to levy a fee in respect of their licensing functions.

Embryology

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 29 October 2008 (WA 167—68), what is the ratio of scientific papers describing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to research council funding for such work since 2006; and how that compares to the ratio of scientific papers describing stem cells derived by human cloning relative to public funding of such work since 2004.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: The information required to calculate an Answer to this Question is not held by DIUS, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council or the Medical Research Council and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Financial Services Authority

Lord Morris of Aberavon: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Myners on 23 February (WA 42), what assessment they have made of the operation of the jurisdiction of the Financial Services Authority; and whether they will introduce legislation if they do not view the operation of its jurisdiction as satisfactory.

Lord Myners: On 6 October, the Chancellor asked Lord Turner, the chairman of the FSA, to make recommendations for reforming UK and international approaches to regulation, to ensure the future stability of the UK banking system.
	The FSA's review will be published on 18 March and will address a number of issues including the FSA's supervisory approach, processes and resources—in particular whether the changes already being implemented through the FSA's supervisory enhancement programme are sufficient, given the further global developments since it was initially designed.

Government Offices: North West

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there are any plans to establish new government offices in north-west England.

Baroness Andrews: The Government Office for the North West will move from its current accommodation in City Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester to Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester in spring 2010. The new building is on the civil estate and owned by the British Railways Board (Residuary). It is currently undergoing major refurbishment.
	The Government Office for the North West also occupies accommodation in the Cunard Building, Water Street in Liverpool. There are no current plans to establish new accommodation for this part of the Government Office for the North West.

Housing

Lord Hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Andrews on 2 March (WA 121—22), how many new homes were built in (a) 2005, (b) 2006 and (c) 2007; how many in the Eastern region; and how many in each county in the Eastern region.

Baroness Andrews: The table below shows the number of house building completions in the East of England broken down by county and unitary authority in the 2005, 2006 and 2007 calendar years.
	
		
			 New Build Completions, 2005-07 
			  2005 2006 2007 
			 East of England region 20,110 21,610 22,830 
			 Luton Borough Council UA 237 238 292 
			 Peterborough City Council UA 714 1,281 936 
			 Southend-on-Sea Council UA 415 226 284 
			 Thurrock Council UA 827 602 246 
			 Bedfordshire County Council 1,597 incomplete data 2,100 
			 Cambridgeshire County Council incomplete data incomplete data incomplete data 
			 Essex County Council incomplete data 4,857 5,323 
			 Hertfordshire County Council incomplete data incomplete data incomplete data 
			 Norfolk County Council 3,146 3,059 3,610 
			 Suffolk County Council 2,919 incomplete data incomplete data 
		
	
	Source: Local authority P2 quarterly house building and National House-Building Council returns submitted to CLG.
	The regional and national totals include imputation for missing local authority returns. The county and unitary authority figures are as reported by local authorities and the National House-Building Council; no figure is given where a county or unitary authority has one or more missing (local authority) quarterly returns as the full level of house building activity in the local area is not known.

Housing

Lord Hanningfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were their targets for the total number of new homes in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008.

Baroness Andrews: Detailed housing targets are not directly set by government, but are set out in regional and local plans which are developed through regional and local planning processes. The Government set the overall strategy for housing supply in England. The housing Green Paper, Homes for the Future: More Affordable, More Sustainable (CM 7191), published in July 2007, set out a target to increase housing supply to 240,000 additional homes per annum by 2016.

Israel

Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will request the Government of the United States to suspend their military aid to Israel.

Lord Malloch-Brown: We are in close contact with the new US Administration on how to advance the Middle East peace process and are encouraged by the approach they have taken so far.
	We have no plans to press the US on their aid to Israel, but will be working with the US to engage the new Israeli Government on the importance of urgently making real progress towards a two-state solution.

National Health Service Litigation Authority

Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 10 February (WA 178—79), whether, if a case is settled by the NHS Litigation Authority, any admission of liability will affect the position of the doctor against whom the case has been brought, including in deciding on a merit award.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) provides support to members that are the subject to litigation claims. Claims may be brought against National Health Service bodies because they are vicariously liable for the acts, and omissions to act, of their employees. The NHSLA does not settle cases brought against individual employees of NHS bodies, as employees are not eligible to be members of the NHSLA's schemes.
	When a claim is made against an NHS body following an isolated act of negligence by an employee, an investigation to uncover the facts of the case will be undertaken. An admission of liability by an NHS body in a clinical negligence case does not itself affect the position of a doctor who was involved in that case. However, the admission does not preclude the trust from taking action to address a doctor's performance following on from that investigation. This may affect the position of the doctor.
	Clinical Excellence Awards at national and local level recognise the additional contributions that individual consultants make to the NHS, over and above carrying out their normal responsibilities. The process for deciding on applications for these awards follows a well-established procedure and is quite separate to clinical negligence matters.

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

Earl Howe: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Department of Health's selection criteria for referral of topics to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence was last updated or amended; what were the changes made, and for what reasons; and when and how any changes were communicated to stakeholders.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government in what circumstances the Department of Health refers ultra-orphan drugs to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence for assessment; when this policy was last updated or amended; what were the changes made; and when and how any changes were communicated to stakeholders.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The criteria for deciding which topics should be referred to the work programme of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) were last updated in July 2006 following a three-month consultation on the proposed changes between March and June 2006. The 2006 consultation document, full details of the consultation responses and the analysis of the comments has been placed in the Library. Details of the topic selection process and criteria as implemented following the consultation are available on NICE's website at www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/howwework/howguidancetopicsarechosen/. The document has also been placed in the Library.
	The referral to NICE of drugs for the treatment of very small patient populations, sometimes referred to as ultra-orphan drugs, is considered on a case by case basis.
	The department and NICE are currently consulting on proposed revisions to the process and criteria for selecting topics for referral to NICE's technology appraisal work programme.
	The consultation document is available at www.nice.org.uk/getinvolved/suggestatopic/. The document has also been placed in the Library.

National Security: Wire Tapping

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Statement by the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, on 12 February (Official Report, House of Commons, 89—90WS), whether they have a strategy to overcome the obstacles to using wire-tap evidence in court outlined in the statement.

Lord West of Spithead: The intercept as evidence (IAE) work programme currently being taken forward by officials is based on that recommended at paragraph 214 of the Privy Council Review Report (CM 7324). This has been endorsed by the cross-party Advisory Group of Privy Councillors.
	As made clear in the advisory's group progress report to my right honourable friend the Prime Minister, the issues are complex. However, the progress report also makes clear the advisory group's belief that the PII+ model being developed remains the best prospect for a viable IAE regime; the key next steps being to:
	draw out the likely impacts in practice on the operations of the intercepting agencies and on counterterrorism and serious organised crime trials, especially issues surrounding the identification in practice of exculpatory material and the implications of advisory and discretionary judicial oversight; and reflecting the views of operational and legal practitioners, including on trial complexity and the risk of successful defence "fishing expeditions" and the admissibility of intercept material and how this might be best secured.
	This work is being taken forward urgently.
	Copies of the Privy Council review report on IAE, the work programme and advisory group report are all available in the Libraries of the House.

Northern Ireland Office: Bonuses

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the details of the special bonus schemes for staff of the Northern Ireland Office.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Details of the special bonus scheme are set out in my Answer of 26 January 2009 (Official Report, col. WA16).

Northern Ireland Office: Cost-saving

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 9 February (WA 165—66) concerning cost-saving measures implemented by the Northern Ireland Office, what is the disproportionate cost to provide an Answer to Questions; who calculates it; and how.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The disproportionate cost threshold for providing an Answer to a Parliamentary Question is £750.
	The area of the department responsible for answering a Parliamentary Question assesses the costs involved, including staff and other resources, and whether this represents disproportionate cost.
	In relation to the Answer given on 9 February (Official Report, cols. WA 165-66), disproportionate cost has been cited because to provide a more detailed breakdown of departmental efficiency gains than that published in the Northern Ireland Office's autumn performance report 2008 would require an extensive manual investigation of records.
	This would involve investigating files to collate information on 170 separate efficiency initiatives and associated targets. Monitoring of the 170 agreed initiatives commenced in 2005 and was done bi-monthly until 2008. To determine the progress of each individual initiative would require significant staff resources, which would be in excess of the £750 disproportionate cost threshold.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish their response to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's advice on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland of 10 December 2008 in sufficient time to enable appropriate legislation to be introduced within a year.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission produced around 200 pages of very detailed and wide-ranging advice to the Government. It proposed the creation of new statutory rights in a wide range of different fields. The Government are currently giving careful consideration to these substantial issues and intend to consult publicly.
	The precise timing of the consultation has not yet been set, but is expected to be in the late spring.

Northern Ireland: Personal Protection Weapons

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the remarks of the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Sir Hugh Orde, about the danger from dissident IRA groups, they will reassess the decision to remove personal protection weapons from serving and retired police officers in Northern Ireland and from elected Unionist politicians; and how many applications for the surrender of such weapons have been made in each case in the past two years

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: That is an operational matter for the chief constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the noble Lord, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Northern Ireland: Personal Protection Weapons

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether private drivers and escorts of Sinn Fein Northern Ireland Executive Ministers continue to hold personal protection weapons; and how many applications have been issued for their surrender.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: That is an operational matter for the chief constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the noble Lord, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Pakistan: Blasphemy Laws

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last raised with the Government of Pakistan the use of Pakistan's blasphemy legislation for malicious reasons; and what was the response.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The UK, through our EU partners, regularly raises the concerns over the situation of religious minorities in Pakistan who are affected by the arbitrary application of Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Most recently, in January this year, with our EU partners, we issued a demarche calling on the Government of Pakistan to "effectively protect freedom of belief and freedom of expression and to reform discriminatory legislation, in particular blasphemy laws".

Petitions

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many petitions the Foreign and Commonwealth Office received in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008; what steps the department has taken to publicise them; and whether they will place the text of the petitions received and the number of signatures in the Library of the House.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) receives more than 70,000 pieces of correspondence from members of the public each year, but the current system used for recording does not differentiate between the types of correspondence. It is therefore not possible to ascertain how many petitions were received by Ministerial Support Unit in either 2007 or 2008. There are no plans to place the texts of petitions in the Library of the House.
	The Parliamentary Branch of the FCO receives petitions forwarded by MPs on behalf of their constituents. Five were received in 2007, six in 2008. Since October 2007 it has been usual practice for a ministerial response to the petition to be sent to the MP and printed in Hansard.

Petitions

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has for receiving, acknowledging, dealing with and responding to petitions that it receives from members of the public.

Lord Malloch-Brown: All petitions from members of the public are received by the public correspondence team in Ministerial Support Unit. The petition is noted and a suitable response is prepared by the relevant Foreign and Commonwealth Office department and sent to the petition organisers for publication on their website or distribution to its members.

Petitions

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many petitions the Department for Children, Schools and Families received in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008; what steps the department has taken to publicise them; and whether they will place the text of the petitions received and the number of signatures in the Library of the House.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures the Department for Children, Schools and Families has for receiving, acknowledging, dealing with and responding to petitions that it receives from members of the public.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The number of petitions received by the department in 2007 and 2008 can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Petitions received in the department are recorded on its correspondence handling system. As with all items of correspondence, a response to the petition is sent in line with Whitehall standards.

Petitions

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many petitions the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills received in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008; what steps the department has taken to publicise them; and whether they will put the text of the petitions received and the number of signatures in the Library of the House.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: The number of petitions received by the department in 2007 and 2008 can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Petitions

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedures the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has for receiving, acknowledging, dealing with and responding to petitions that it receives from members of the public.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: Petitions received in the department are recorded on its correspondence handling system. As with all items of correspondence a response to the petition is sent in line with Whitehall standards.

Planning: Eco-towns

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty's Government following the extension of the consultation period, when they will announce which eco-towns they intend to proceed with.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether planning consent for eco-towns will be the responsibility of local planning authorities following standard procedures.

Baroness Andrews: The Government expect to announce those locations with potential to be eco-towns later this year following consideration of responses to the consultation and the assessment work that has been undertaken. Individual schemes will then need to submit planning applications, which will be for local authorities to determine on the merits of worked-up proposals. The Government remain committed to the plan-led process and eco-towns should be considered in the same way as any other major development proposal.

Public Bodies

Lord Selsdon: To ask Her Majesty's Government which members of the House of Lords are appointees to the non-departmental public bodies listed under "Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills" in annex A to the report of the Cabinet Office entitled Public Bodies 2008; and what was their appointment and individual remuneration.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: This information is not held centrally. Information on board membership and remuneration is published in individual bodies' annual reports and accounts.
	The names of the NDPBs for which the department is now responsible are listed on my department's website at www.dius.gov.uk/annual_report.html.

Public Bodies

Lord Selsdon: To ask Her Majesty's Government which members of the House of Lords are appointees to the non-departmental public bodies listed under "HM Revenue and Customs", "HM Treasury" and "Royal Mint" in annex A to the report of the Cabinet Office entitled Public Bodies 2008; and what was their appointment and individual remuneration.

Lord Myners: One non-departmental public body is listed under HM Revenue and Customs—Section 706/04 Tribunal. It has no members or officers who are members of the House of Lords.
	One non-departmental public body is listed under HM Treasury—the Statistics Commission. However, this body is no longer in existence. On 1 April 2008 it was superseded by the UK Statistics Authority, which is an independent body. As of 31 March 2008, the Statistics Commission had no appointees who were members of the House of Lords.
	One non-departmental public body is listed under the Royal Mint—the Advisory Committee on the Design of Coins, Medals, Seals and Decorations. One of the members is a member of the House of Lords. This is an unpaid position.

Public Bodies

Lord Selsdon: To ask Her Majesty's Government which members of the House of Lords are appointees to the non-departmental public bodies listed under "Northern Ireland Court Service" and "Northern Ireland Office" in annex A to the report of the Cabinet Office entitled Public Bodies 2008; and what was their appointment and individual remuneration.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: This information is not held centrally. Information on board membership and remuneration is published in individual bodies' annual reports and accounts.

Railways: Freight

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they will hold with the European Commission and relevant member states on creating designated long-distance freight train routes across borders which all approved operators can use.

Lord Adonis: The Government are currently participating in European Council negotiations on the European Commission's proposal for a regulation concerning a European rail network for competitive freight. As part of that process, we will hold discussions with the Commission and other member states.

Terrorism

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people arrested for terrorist offences since 2001 had previously served custodial sentences.

Lord West of Spithead: The Home Office does not collect the information requested.
	The Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General's Office are currently working with the National Co-ordinator for Terrorist Investigations to improve the quality of data relating to those arrested, charged, convicted and imprisoned under terrorist legislation and under other legislation but considered terrorist-related. As soon as this is complete, a statistical bulletin covering this information will be published by the Home Office.
	Although the bulletin will not cover statistics in relation to previously served custodial sentences, it will, for the first time, provide detailed statistics on terrorism arrests and convictions.
	The bulletin is due to be published shortly.

Terrorism: Hizb ut-Tahrir

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in banning Hizb ut-Tahrir, as announced by the then Prime Minister in August 2005.

Lord West of Spithead: Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) along with other organisations which cause us concern is kept under continuous review. As and when new material comes to light it is considered and the organisation re-assessed as part of that process. Any decision to proscribe must be based on evidence that a group is concerned in terrorism as defined in the Terrorism Act 2000, and must be proportionate.

Tobacco

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much revenue is lost annually in Northern Ireland through the illegal sales of tobacco products.

Lord Myners: Estimates for the revenue loss associated with illicit sales of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco in the UK are estimated separately for 2002-03 to 2006-07 and are reported in Measuring Indirect Tax Gaps—2008 published by HMRC in November 2008, which is available in Library of the House.
	Specific estimates for Northern Ireland are not available.

Turkey: EU Membership

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely timescale for admitting Turkey to the European Union if there is a settlement of the Cyprus dispute.

Lord Davies of Oldham: There is no set timetable for the conclusion of accession negotiations with any candidate country. The pace of progress of negotiations with Turkey is determined by the pace of Turkey's own reforms to meet the EU accession criteria including good neighbourly relations. On Cyprus, if Turkey fulfilled its commitments to open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels, it would allow the unfreezing of eight negotiation chapters and allow for the provisional closing of chapters that are ready.

War Crimes

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Malloch-Brown on 2 February (WA 92 and WA 99), whether, in view of the possibility that evidence may be destroyed or concealed, they will press the United Nations to establish rapidly independent investigations into allegations of war crimes in Lebanon in 2006 and in Gaza in 2008 and 2009.

Lord Malloch-Brown: We are gravely concerned at the allegations of war crimes by both Israel and Hamas in the recent conflict in Gaza made by organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN. We expect Israel to investigate allegations made against its forces, and have made this clear to the Israeli Government.
	The UN Secretary-General has launched a board of inquiry into the damage to UN premises in Gaza. The UK fully supports this inquiry. In addition, the UN Human Rights Council has decided to send an international fact-finding mission to investigate violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law by Israel in Gaza. We urge all parties to co-operate fully with international inquiries.
	We have no plans to encourage the UN to investigate further Israeli military action in Lebanon in 2006 at this time. A commission of inquiry, set up by the UN Human Rights Council, has already reported on this matter.